KissedByASEAL (5 page)

They parked at a barbecue place that was conveniently located next to the strip club. It didn’t take long for the hot wings they’d ordered, and the beer he’d washed them down with, to soothe Chris into a better mood.

Stuffed full and tipsy, Chris paid the bill and they moved next door.

Within the dim interior the girls spotlighted on the stage, both with lingerie and without, didn’t hurt his mood either.

They’d barely been there a quarter of an hour, not even long enough to finish the beer they’d ordered, when Brody leaned close. “So which one you want?”
 

“Excuse me?” Chris laughed. Were they window shopping for women now?

“Which one tickles your fancy?” Brody waggled his eyebrows. “She’s my treat.”

He rolled his eyes at his brother. “You don’t need to buy me a girl.”

“I’m not buying you a girl. I’m buying you twenty minutes in the back room for a private show with a girl. Anyone you want. So who’s it going to be? Who is the lucky lady who gets the pleasure of the Cassidy charm tonight?”

Chris laughed at Brody’s question, while in the back of his mind he couldn’t help but think there was one girl he wanted who he couldn’t have. Darci.

But damned if parts of him—long neglected parts—didn’t start to like the idea of a private show. Chris pushed the beer in front of him away. It had to be the alcohol making it seem like a good idea to go in the back room and let a stranger get him off by grinding against him.

And for an extra few twenties slipped to her in private, he could have a whole lot more than a dance from quite a few of the girls who worked there. At least that’s what he’d heard from a couple of guys. Illegal, yeah, but the girls got away with it somehow.

Apparently, as long as there were no fights and the patrons were on good behavior inside and outside in the parking lot after their visits, the local cops turned a blind eye to what went on in the back room of this place. Chris didn’t want to speculate but he suspected the owner made it worth their while to do so.

“I know which one you like.”

Chris turned to look at his brother. “Oh, do you?”

“Uh, huh.” Brody nodded, grinning.

“And which one do you reckon is my Ms. Right, in your opinion?”

“I don’t know if she’s that, but she could be good enough for tonight. The blonde.” Brody shot a sideways gaze at Chris. “Am I right?”

Damn his brother for knowing him too well. Yeah, Chris had noticed the blonde. He couldn’t help it. Aside from the bought and paid for tits, she reminded him of Darci. Her long legs. Her fair coloring. Even her haircut.

He grew impossibly harder just looking at the girl who looked like Darci.

How messed up was that? He was one sick bastard, hiring a substitute for the woman he wanted, but who wouldn’t give him the time of day.

And damned if he wasn’t going to do it. “A’ight. See if the blonde’s available.”

“Now we’re talking.” Brody rubbed his hands together and stood.

Chris shook his head. He needed to do something about his social life. Eventually.

Tonight, he was going to let this woman cure what ailed him. Let her ease the ache deep inside that Darci’s rejection had caused.
 

Tomorrow—he’d have to decide then what to do next.

CHAPTER 4

It was Valentines Day and a Saturday to boot, making it feel doubly bad that Darci was sitting at home in her pajamas in the afternoon.

She had no boyfriend. No date. No prospects for even a girls’ night out since those were few and far between now that Jon had stolen her best friend from her.

Ali and Jon no doubt had some romantic evening planned while she had nothing but the sofa and the remote control and whatever movies the cable networks chose to run on television.

So what? Darci decided she’d just make the best of her
me time
.

A career focused, working woman needed to take time for herself once in a while. She could relax. Catch up on reading . . . wallow in self-pity.

Darci sighed. Her life truly was pitiful.

The one saving grace was that Rick’s life was just as pitiful as hers. He didn’t have any plans either. No romantic prospects for the holiday for him. That made her feel moderately better.

It was the damn greeting card companies and florists who created and marketed this holiday to make everyone feel as if they had to celebrate it in some big way or they were losers. She was convinced of it.

People complained that Christmas had become too commercial, but she’d argue Valentines Day was worse. Especially for a single girl.

Well, Darci didn’t intend to bow to the pressure of the commercialism. Not this year. At least there were some good movies on. Maybe she’d even make some popcorn later.

Did they have a bag of popcorn kernels in the cabinet? She didn’t know and she was too lazy to get up to check.

There was one way to find out. Her always-hungry brother who was always poking around in the cupboards would know.

“Rick?”

He didn’t answer. She craned her neck to glance behind her, toward his bedroom door, and heard the faint sound of water running coming from his bathroom. He’d come back from his run a while ago and gone directly into the shower, and he was still in there, by the sound of things.

That man took the longest showers on record. Maybe that was how he could go without having a girlfriend for such long stretches of time. Darci cringed at that thought.

Thank goodness they had two full bathrooms so she didn’t have to share with him. There were some things a girl didn’t want to think about her brother doing, especially not in her shower.

But the more pressing issue was that she couldn’t ask him if there was popcorn in the cabinet. She’d just have to wait for the answer to her snack question until he finished whatever it was he was doing in there and got out of the shower.

Laziness was a powerful motivator and Darci was perfectly content to wait for her answer if she didn’t have to move off the sofa.

She was content, until the sound of Rick’s cell phone ringing disturbed her peace.

He must have tossed it on the kitchen counter before he went into the shower.

She ignored it through the interminably long and obnoxious ringtone. By the time the annoying noise stopped, her jaw was clenched and her stress level high.

Maybe she could change Rick’s ringtone to something less grating when he wasn’t looking. Or hell, she could put the damn thing on vibrate. She’d have to remember to do that next time she got up.

Happy with that plan, she went back to watching the movie.

The cell went off again not even a minute later, this time sounding even louder and more obnoxious, though that was probably only because she was already annoyed from the first time.

She twisted around and yelled in the general direction of the bathroom, “Rick, your phone is ringing!”

He didn’t answer, probably because he hadn’t heard her over the sound of the water.

Someone phoning twice in a row could mean there was an emergency. Rick had close friends from his old team who were still active duty SEALs. Brody. Thom. Grant. There could be news about one of them.

And Jon and Zane were waiting to hear about the client’s decision after the presentation they’d made. It could be news about that.

Her damn curiosity wouldn’t let her ignore a ringing phone, even if it wasn’t her own. And since Rick’s ringtone was enough to drive a person crazy, she was willing to get up if it meant she could stop the incessant noise.

With a huff of annoyance, Darci hauled herself off the sofa and ran for the phone as fast as her stiff limbs would allow.

She grabbed for the cell and swiped the screen to answer. “Hello?”

“Darci? I wasn’t expecting you to answer.” A familiar male voice with a thick southern drawl greeted her.

“Chris. Hi. Rick’s in the shower. When you kept calling and calling, over and over again, I figured it was important and I’d better answer.”

Chris paused for a second. “Uh, I don’t know who that was calling, but I only phoned once and that’s when you answered.”

“Oh. Sorry about that.” Darci cringed, feeling bad she’d accused him. Though honestly, how was she supposed to know who was calling?
 

“It’s a’ight. It was probably Jon calling. I just got off the phone with him.”

“Is everything okay?” Darci still couldn’t shake the visceral reaction she got when one of the guys from the team called.

Even though Rick was off the teams now, she still felt the same twist of fear in her stomach until she heard everyone was all right. It was the residual effect of having someone close to you constantly away on usually secret, and mostly life-threatening assignments.

“Yeah. He was calling with good news actually. We got us a job.”

“A job?”

“Yup. For GAPS. We landed a genuine assignment.”

Her eyes widened. “The big client they presented to?”

“Nah, I wish. They still got to meet with the company’s stockholders or board or something before they can seal that deal—no pun intended. This is some one-time gig. Jon wants me and Rick to take it since he and Zane have to stick close in case they’re called in for the follow-up with that big client.”

Rick came out of the bedroom and stopped at the sight of her. “Uh, why are you on my phone?”

“It was ringing so I answered it. You’re welcome.” Scowling, she thrust the cell toward her ungrateful brother. “It’s Chris. You got an assignment for GAPS.”

He grabbed for the phone and moved back into his bedroom to talk to Chris in private, she guessed. As if there was something secret they had to discuss like when he’d been a big bad SEAL and everything was all hush-hush. If she heard him throw the term
operational security
at her one more time she might kick him.

Meanwhile, Chris had already told her the news, so what was the big deal? She rolled her eyes at her brother’s idiotic behavior and headed back for the sofa. She was missing the best part of the movie. She hated when that happened.

Rick came out of his bedroom and tossed his cell onto the counter again. “Shit.”

She wished he’d hold on to the damn thing so next time it rang he could answer it himself. She also wished he’d stop cussing in the middle of her movie.

Sighing, she figured she’d better ask why. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m not going to be able to work this job with Chris. I don’t have the vacation time and even if I did, I can’t take time off from the plant on less than a week’s notice.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Yeah, me too. I just called Jon and told him. I’m sure he’s not thrilled with me.”

“Then Jon or Zane will have to go with Chris.”

“They can’t. That big client wants them both there to make a presentation to their board right in the middle of when they’d need to be on this job.”

“Can’t Chris handle it alone?” She figured her suggestion was a simple enough solution, but then again what did she know? She didn’t even know what kind of job it was.
 

“I don’t know. Jon is contacting the client now. Damn it, I would love to take this job. It’s at a damn resort in Florida.”

“Really? Heck, to be able to get away from Virginia in February, all expenses paid, I’ll go.”

“If you could shoot a gun, Jon might hire you. We’re that desperate. He’s not going to want to give up a job.” Rick blew out a breath. “Maybe he or Zane can just fly in and out for their meeting so Chris will only be alone for the day. I just want this company to take off so big that I can afford to quit my job at the plant.”

“Good luck with that.” She snorted.

“Thanks. Love you too, sis.”

“Sorry. I’m just saying, new businesses are hard to get off the ground. And why don’t you have any vacation days?”

He plopped down in the chair opposite the sofa. “I didn’t have that many to begin with since I just started not long ago, and the few I had, I used up.”

 
“I have so many stored up I could leave for close to a month and not use them all.”

“Then maybe you should take the job.” His scowl and smartass tone told her he was pissed he couldn’t go to Florida, and he was taking it out on her.